Description of Historic Place

Fort Toulouse Archaeological Site, Borden Number BjCf-02, first archaeologically surveyed in 1973, is situated within the boundaries of Battery Provincial Park, near St Peter's in Southwestern Cape Breton. The fort site occupies an open grassy area, which has apparently remained open in an otherwise heavily wooded setting, as a result of earlier occupation activities. The 6500 sq. meter site contains of the remains of a French fort, which existed from around 1715 until its destruction by the British in 1758. The property consists of the archaeological remains registered under Borden number BjCf-02.

Heritage Value

Fort Toulouse Archaeological Site is valued as a mostly undisturbed example of a French military facility that was established at the time the Acadians were moving into Cape Breton from mainland Nova Scotia, after the French loss of that area to the British in 1713. The fort was built to protect the village of the same name and the nearby short overland transportation route from the Atlantic to the Bras d'Or Lakes in the interior of Cape Breton. Occupying an open grassy area, which has apparently remained open in an otherwise heavily wooded setting as a result of earlier occupation activities, Fort Toulouse over looks both the village and approaches to the transportation route that it was built to protect. A study of artifacts found at Port Toulouse could provide a basis for comparison with those at Louisbourg and information about interaction between various French strategic points. Excavation of the Port Toulouse structures would contribute to knowledge of relatively simple, frontier-style military structures.

Source: Archaeological Investigations in Battery Provincial Park, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, 1985, Walla00002, Birgitta Linderoth Wallace, Staff Archaeologist, Parks Canada, Atlantic Region; Preliminary Report The Port Tolouse and Sand Hills Sites, Birgitta Linderoth Wallace, Staff Archaeologist, Environment Canada - Parks, Atlantic Region Office, Halifax.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of the Fort Toulouse Archaeological Site resides in the following character-defining elements:
- the site in its undeveloped setting overlooking the remains of the Acadian village of Port Toulouse;
- those elements shown by archaeological excavation to be related to Fort Toulouse;
- those artifacts which are in storage; and
- any other yet-to-be identified features or artifacts related to the occupation of Fort Toulouse.